Barbarous radiates are imitations of the ''

antoninianus The ''antoninianus'' or pre-reform radiate was a coin A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in ...

'', a type of coin issued during the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

, which are so named due to their crude style and prominent

radiant crown A radiant or radiate crown, also known as a solar crown, sun crown, Eastern crown, or tyrant's crown, is a crown, wreath, diadem, or other headgear symbolizing the Sun or more generally powers associated with the Sun. It comprises a number of ...

worn by the emperor. Barbarous radiates were issued privately primarily during the

Crisis of the Third Century The Crisis of the Third Century, also known as the Military Anarchy or the Imperial Crisis, was a period in History of Rome, Roman history during which the Roman Empire nearly collapsed under the combined pressure of repeated Barbarian invasions ...

(c. 259–274 AD) in the western provinces. They are not generally regarded as forgeries since they were rarely deceptive because they were smaller and cruder than standard issues. They probably functioned as small change. Although earlier numismatists, notably Philip V. Hill, theorized that barbarous radiates were produced long after their prototypes and into the Dark Ages and Saxon period, more recent works argue that they were generally contemporary to their prototypes. According to Hill, in England, although barbarous radiates were clearly produced at several locations, hoard evidence demonstrate local styles. For example, in northern England there was a greater affinity towards producing barbarous radiates with reverse figures with relief-less outlines, while in southern England bolder, fuller, high relief figures were more common. Similar "schools of art" exist for pieces produced in continental Europe. Due to their unofficial manufacture, barbarous radiates exhibit many peculiarities. Reverse types portray a certain deity or personification, for example Spes, might feature a reverse legend instead for

Pietas (), translated variously as "duty", "religiosity" or "religious behavior", "loyalty", "devotion", or "filial piety" (English "piety" derives from the Latin), was one of the chief virtues among the ancient Romans. It was the distinguishing virt ...

. On some specimens the devices normally associated with one deity or personification is shown with a different deity or personification. For example, the sceptre, which is normally a device of Pax, is instead shown with Pietas. The result is a generic reverse personification or deity. Legends of barbarous radiates range from correct and exact copies of the prototype, to a jumble of unintelligible, meaningless letters and symbols. Smaller pieces known as minims, which are less than 10 mm in diameter, are often anepigraphic (without markings/lettering). For very degraded barbarous imitations, there is a tendency to emphasize a particular feature of the prototype, in this case the radiate crown. The most frequently imitated prototypes are of the Gallic emperors the Tetrici (270–273),

Tetricus I Gaius Pius Esuvius Tetricus was a Gallo-Roman culture, Gallo-Roman nobleman who ruled as Augustus, emperor of the Gallic Empire from 271 to 274 AD. He was originally the (provincial governor) of Gallia Aquitania and became emperor after the murd ...

and his son, Tetricus II. The next most frequent are those of

Claudius II Marcus Aurelius Claudius "Gothicus" (10 May 214 – August/September 270), also known as Claudius II, was Roman emperor from 268 to 270. During his reign he fought successfully against the Alemanni and decisively defeated the Goths at the Batt ...

(270), especially the posthumous issue with the

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

reverse, and Victorinus (268-270). Imitations of Postumus antoniniani are scarce, although imitations of his large bronzes (such as the double ''sestertius'') are relatively common. Other uncommon to rare types in order of frequency are

Gallienus Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus (; – September 268) was Roman emperor with his father Valerian from 253 to 260 and alone from 260 to 268. He ruled during the Crisis of the Third Century that nearly caused the collapse of the empire. He ...

Quintillus Marcus Aurelius Claudius Quintillus (died 270) was a short-lived Roman emperor. He took power after the death of his brother, Emperor Claudius Gothicus, in 270 CE. After reigning for a few weeks Quintillus was overthrown by Aurelian, who had be ...

Probus Probus may refer to: People * Marcus Valerius Probus (c. 20/30–105 AD), Roman grammarian * Marcus Pomponius Maecius Probus, consul in 228 * Probus (emperor), Roman Emperor (276–282) * Probus of Byzantium (–306), Bishop of Byzantium from 293 t ...

Aurelian Aurelian (; ; 9 September ) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 270 to 275 AD during the Crisis of the Third Century. As emperor, he won an unprecedented series of military victories which reunited the Roman Empire after it had nearly disinte ...

, and

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...

References

* Numismatic Notes and Monographs number 112. ''"Barbarous Radiates": Imitations of Third-Century Roman Coins"'', 1949, by Philip V. Hill, published by the American Numismatic Society. his reference has good photographs, but the dating is no longer accepted. See the articles by J. P. C. Kent.

External links

References on ancient imitations.
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060207041540/http://esty.ancients.info/imit/imitationrefs.html#barb , date=2006-02-07

Coins of ancient Rome Crisis of the Third Century